Canadian and Mexican Pork Producers Supportive of Efforts to Overturn Proposition 12

The National Pork Producers Council says both the Canadian and Mexican pork industries have been highly supportive of the effort to have California's Proposition 12 overturned. The challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court of Proposition 12, a ballot initiative passed in California in 2018 that bans the sale of pork in that state that does not come from farms that meet specific requirements focussed on the housing of sows during the breeding process, was discussed early this month as part of World Pork Expo.

Michael Formica, the Assistant Vice President and General Counsel with the National Pork Producers Council, suggests this case has implications for everyone in the world.

Clip-Michael Formica-National Pork Producers Council:

For Canadian pork producers it's going to be an issue. There, both pork is coming down but also a lot of piglets are coming down from Canada and being finished in the U.S. and will end up in the market, in the stream of commerce and that pork will be in California. They will have to comply with Prop 12.

Those farms will need to registered with California. They will be subjected to inspectors from the state of California. It's bad enough in Iowa, where we are right now, but if you're in Canada, that's a breach of Canada's s sovereignty. Canada gets to tell Canadians what they're going to do and if you're in Manitoba, Manitoba gets to tell Manitobans or Saskatchewan gets to tell Saskatchewanians what to do, not California.

This is a different country. It's ridiculous but yet that's what's going to happen. The Canadian pork industry is very concerned about this. Likewise, the Mexican pork industry is very concerned and of course the American pork producers are concerned as well. We're seeing an incredible amount of support and we're very appreciative of the support that the Canadian and the Mexican pork industry have shown in this.